The present invention relates to a female terminal which consists of a main body and a leaf spring made of a material different from that of the main body to increase an engaging force with a male terminal to be engaged therewith and a method for manufacturing the female terminal.
This kind of female terminal is disclosed in Japanese Utility Model Laid-open (kokai) No. 64-12383, which is shown in FIG. 1.
The female terminal 1 consists of a main body 7 made of inductive material and a leaf spring 10 made of high-elastic material, such as beryllium copper, phosphorus bronze etc. The main body 7 includes a box part 3 and a wire-crimping part 5. The box part 3 is provided on both sidewalls with through bores 12, respectively. On the other hand, the leaf spring 10 has projections 14 formed on both sides of one end thereof in the longitudinal direction. Inserting the leaf spring 10 into the box part 3 and then engaging the respective projections 14 with the through bores 12, the leaf spring 10 is assembled in the main body 7 integrally. A turnover piece 16 is formed at the inlet of the box part 3 in order to facilitate an insertion of a not-shown male terminal.
FIGS. 2 and 3 show sequent processes to assemble the female terminal 1, respectively. As shown in FIG. 2 which consists of a series of plan views of processes to attach the leaf spring 10 to the box part 3, the spring 10 is connected to a linked body 20 through the intermediary of connecting portions 18 at the beginning. Thereafter, the leaf spring 10 is separated from the linked body 20 when the spring 10 is assembled to the box body 3.
In detail, as shown in FIGS. 2(a), (b) and FIGS. 3 (a), (b), the leaf spring 10 connected to the linked body 20 through the connecting portions 18 is set up in the box part 3 under a semi-folded condition, which is also connected to a not-shown linked body. Then, as shown in FIG. 2(c) and FIG. 3(c), the connection portions 18 and 18 are cut thereby separating the leaf spring 10 from the linked body 20. Thereafter, the projections 14 and 14 are engaged into the through bores 12 and 12, respectively, so that the leaf spring 10 is fitted into the box part 3. Finally, as shown in FIGS. 2(d), (e) and FIGS. 3(d), (e), the box part 3 is folded completely to thereby form a configuration of box.
In the above-mentioned prior art terminal, since the female terminal 1 has a construction to engage the projections 14 and 14 into the through bores 12 and 12, there is necessity to assemble the leaf spring 10 into the box part 5 under condition that mating portions thereof are opened and thereafter, to close the mating portions, whereby such processes are complicated and troublesome for an operator. Furthermore, a distance S2 between the mating portions of the box part 3 in the opening state is established to be larger than a distance S1 between both ends of the projections 14 and there is a margin in distance between the through bores 12 and the projections 14. Therefore, if an external force such as vibration is applied on the box part 3 when setting up the leaf spring 10 on the bottom face of the part 3, the projections 14 may be withdrawn from the through bores 12, so that the female terminal in which the box part 3 is closed under such a condition would be rejected.